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11 Special Skills are a customization layer in Echoes of Aincrad that sits alongside the player's weapon loadout and sword skills. Bandai Namco's own framing of the system is that players 'select special skills to match their preferred playstyle' as they level up.
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33 Player Side
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55 As the player levels up and takes on harder encounters, they can choose from a wide range of Special Skills to add to their own capabilities. Alongside weapons, armour, and statistics, Special Skills are one of the main ways players express their favoured approach: speed, intelligence, or endurance.
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77 Companion Side
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99 Each of the four NPC companions also carries a unique Special Skill of their own. Iori's healing circle, Wyzeman's engagement control, Zash's attack buffs and barriers, and Argo's dagger openings are all examples of the companion-side design that the Special Skills system is built around.
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1111 Bonds Unlock More
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1414 As the player's bond with their chosen companion deepens over the campaign, additional Special Skills and more powerful abilities unlock. That ties progression to the specific companion choice rather than letting the player swap between companions with identical strength at every point.
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1616 What 'Special Skills' Means in Combat
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1818 In practice, 'Special Skills' is also the umbrella label used in the combat system for the two partner-linked abilities you can trigger during a fight: Support Skills and Combination Skills. They are distinct from your own sword skills, which belong to your equipped weapon. Support Skills are shaped by which partner is active, while Combination Skills are a tag-team ultimate that you perform together with that partner.
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2020 How to Trigger Them
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22-Both abilities share the same input pattern. Hold the action-shift button (the combat modifier), then press the button assigned to the skill you want to use. The same modifier also exposes a third sword-skill slot while it is held, so the shift button doubles as the gateway to your extended combat options.
22+Both abilities share the same input pattern. Hold the action-shift button (the combat modifier), then press the button assigned to the skill you want to use. The action-shift hold does not surface a third sword-skill slot; the player's own sword skills are still capped at two and stay bound to the right trigger and right bumper. The shift modifier is dedicated to the partner-skill layer.
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2424 Support Skills
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2727 A Support Skill is the active partner's unique utility ability. Every companion brings a different Support Skill to the fight, so swapping partners changes which tool is available on that button. Representative examples include the following.
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2929 Iori's Healing Circle: Iori drops a zone on the ground that restores HP to the player while they stand inside it, making it a reliable recovery option between enemy windows.Wyzeman's Discordant Resonance: Wyzeman unleashes a resonant pulse that damages nearby enemies and applies a stacking buildup on them, so repeated casts start pressuring even tougher targets.Argo's Analysis: Argo temporarily highlights nearby treasure chests and enemies, letting the player see them through walls for the duration. Useful for scouting ambushes and sweeping rooms.Zash's Shield: Zash's Support Skill overlays a shield on top of the player's health bar that absorbs incoming damage before HP drops, acting as a temporary buffer when a heavy attack is about to land.
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3131 Combination Skills
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3333 A Combination Skill is the tag-team ultimate shared with the active partner. The player and partner execute a choreographed attack together, and the player appears to be invulnerable during the animation window. That makes Combination Skills useful as both a panic button, to bail out of a deadly situation with a clean reset, and as a burst finisher to close out a weakened enemy or stagger a boss.
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3535 Resource Buildup and Stocking
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3838 Support Skills and Combination Skills each run on their own resource gauge, and both gauges charge the same way: by attacking enemies. Normal combat fills the meters passively, so the more aggressive the player is, the sooner these options come online.
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4040 A Combination Skill can be used once its gauge is fully charged. Support Skills have a different, more forgiving rhythm: they use a stocking mechanic, meaning charges can be banked and held. When several stocks are ready, the Support Skill can be triggered multiple times in a row without any of the built-up gauge going to waste, which opens up combos like chaining two Healing Circles or two Shield layers back to back.
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4242 Interaction with Partner Behavior Modes
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4444 How often you get to cash in those stocks also depends on the partner's behavior setting from the Switch System. Switch Mode reduces the partner's idle actions compared to their default free-attack behavior, so they spend less of the shared gauge on routine hits. That keeps more Support Skill uses saved up for the critical moments you actually want them, whether that is a boss wind-up, a surprise adds wave, or a clutch Combination Skill window.
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4646 Unlocking More Through Bonds
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4848 Bonds with partners, built up through their character-focused side quests, can grant new Support Skills and stronger versions of existing abilities for that partner. Deepening a partner's bond therefore expands their story presence and their kit in combat, pairing naturally with weapon upgrades and the defensive timing options covered in Parry Slash, Dodge Slash, and Reversal Slash.